Donald Trump is once again Time’s selection for Person of the Year in 2024, after first receiving the distinction in 2016.
After reports began swirling on Wednesday night, the publication officially announced the new on Thursday, explaining that the Person of the Year is “the individual who, for better or for worse, did the most to shape the world and the headlines over the past 12 months.”
“In many years, that choice is a difficult one,” Time Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs wrote in explaining the choice. “In 2024, it was not.”
“Since he began running for President in 2015, perhaps no single individual has played a larger role in changing the course of politics and history than Trump,” Jacobs continued.
“He shocked many by winning the White House in 2016, then led the U.S. through a chaotic term that included the first year of a pandemic as well as a period of nationwide protest, and that ended with his losing the election by 7 million votes and provoking the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.”
Less than 30 minutes after announcing Trump as the winner, Time then published an article fact-checking the answers he gave in his Person of the Year interview. In it, he falsely linked autism to vaccines, a widely disproven theory, and more.
“Although the American presidency has evolved across these eras, its influence has not diminished,” Jacobs wrote. “Today, we are witnessing a resurgence of populism, a widening mistrust in the institutions that defined the last century, and an eroding faith that liberal values will lead to better lives for most people. Trump is both agent and beneficiary of it all.”
Previous selections by Time for Person of the Year have varied; past winners have included Trump supporters Vladimir Putin, Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and more. But Barack Obama, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have all been chosen previously as well.
